around italy in 14 days….
italy is a country one MUST visit at least once in his/her lifetime…it’s beauty is beyond what my limited vocabulary can describe..but i can say this:.anyone who goes there for the first time will have non other expression than " waaaaaa……….."
visiting to italy can give you the sense of "civilization", teach you the meaning of art, as well as showing you how to live life the right way…
DAY 1— arrived in Rome’s airport. checked in the hostel and started travelling.1st stop was papolo’s square.was amazed the by the 1st fountain we saw in italy…(before we realise there’s fountain in each square), viewed the sunset by the hill nearby. and find our way to the spanish steps. it’s another tourist attraction where couples love to hang around. then finally had our dinner near fontana di trevi. ate my first gelato in front of the world famous fountain….legend has it that anyone who makes a wish there will visit rome again in the future…..i made 3 wishes there….
DAY 2— visited the famous colosseum. it’s interior is definitely different from what you see in the gladiator, but you will be amazed by how the ancient people build such amazing structure back then…then we moved on the the nearby palantine hill, roman’s forum etc… most of the parts are destroyed, but you can still imagine the glory of roman empire then, it’s no wonder how they almost had the whole map under their control.
DAY 3— visited the vatican city, heart of christianity. visited the museum, sistine chapel and many more amzing sculptures and architecture. although i’m not a christian, and might not fully understand the true meaning of the painting and sculptures, but was really amazed by how the artists’ mind worked…had neck sore by looking up the painting on the ceiling….every detail was taken care of, every single stroke was done with passion…then, we went to the st peter’s basilica.took lots of picture of the square, and inside the cathedral. then we moved on to st angelo’s castle.
DAY 4—went to some places we missed out during the pass few days as it’s the last day we’ll be in rome.went to circo maximus, where the chariot race was held last time. went to the "mouth of truth". they say if you tell lies when u put your hand inside the mouth, it will shut and bites your hand off..
DAY 5— woke up early in the morning to catch the train to Pisa, where the leaning tower is. the leaning tower of Pisa was so famous because some architect did some mistake when doing the foundation and keep on building the tower altho the foundation is unstable. somehow the tower miraculously stood (and still standing). it was built to complement the cathedral and baptistry around it. but ironically it got more famous after galileo galilei made an experiment on top of it….we spent like around 2 hours posing with the leaning tower….trying to push it, lean on it, hug it, stop it from falling down, stand as tall as the tower etc with camera tricks…..and apparently we were not the only one who was doin that….
DAY 6—started our day in florence. the Standhal’s syndrome was discovered here….a syndrome developed from the amazement of the beauty and art of florence. we went to the famous duomo located at the centre of the city. after visitng the cathedral we went to palazzo vecchio and and the ever famous uffizi. among the great paintings, i love the " the born of venus" the most…and thanks to the taiwanese tour guide who explaint the drawing in detail, i got to understand essence of the painting and got to realise what art is really about…
DAY 7— went to palazzo vechio.enter the museum with countless sculptures there was this famous sculpture "david" by michaelangello in front of the palazzo. everyone was there trying to taking pictures of him with his apparently "perfect" body line…. there were some other famous sculptures….which i can’t seemed to recall their names.
Day 8— went to the highest place in the city. piaza michale….(i think)….from there we could see the breathtaking view of the whole city from above….however on the way, the girls face some problems with the pigeons….
DAY 9…finally arrived in milan….a heaven for shopping ( for those loaded ones of course)….been to galleria vittotio emanuele, where all the brands like LV, PRADA, GUCCI etc are from….at night we even had ourselves experiencing the culture of milan by getting ourselves ticket into theathe of Scalla to watch an opera…..i still can’t believed i did that…
DAY10—-went up to the famous Duomo…the symbol of milan…with lots of spikes with detailed sculpture on everyone of them……the view from up there is just so cool…..then after that went to see some modern art in some art gallery, although i have no idea about art whatsoever…..but to our regret we didn’t get to see "the last supper" by leonardo da vinci as enterence to the museum is limited to few people per day and it requires booking…..
DAY 11— arrived in our 5th stop, verona. the people here are described by the girls as "cute". i would say they are funny, and friendly. the transport system here is rather confusing. a place within walking distance took us half an hour to get there by bus as we went to the opposite direction. and that happened several times….i think by the end of the day we have traveled the whole verona city… anyway this place is famous for the churches museum and of course is where the palace of romeo and juliet located…people come all over the world to see the balcony where romeo sings to juliet…there were love notes everywhere on the wall…and of course a statue of juliet in front of the castle…
DAY 12— arrived in venice. love the condition of the hotel, despite the fact that it’s located far away from the city centre, and i got bed bug attack on the first night…decided to travel seperately with the gals today. went walking through the city on the water by foot…wanted to experience the life of venice to see if it’s as good and wonderful as everyone says….it turn out to be not bad after all….there were alot of churches to visit with amazing painting and more sculptures…after a series of getting lost in the maze (truest me, if u don have a map, you will get lost)….i finally found the main attraction….st mark’s square….where the famous church, castle and all the museums are there….there were lots and lot of pigeons there…..so many that it can almost flood the whole st mark’s square….
DAY 13— took a boat ride around venice island….went to Murano where beautiful murano glasses are made, and to Burano where they have beautiful streets with "colourful" houses….
DAY 14— continue touring venice city….this time, i took my own sweet time to walk slowly, experiencing the life in venice, enjoying my last day in italy. went in to some shops, and bought some masks that venice is famous for….
the next day…we headed to marco polo’s airport to wait for our flight back to moscow……
